This invention relates to machinery for relieving stress in a human and in particular to machines that relieve stress by moving the human body in a certain manner.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,095 issued Mar. 17, 1981, I disclosed an electromechanical, therapeutic apparatus for treating a human subject. In the known apparatus, the patient lies horizontally on a platform that is designed to rotate about a horizontal axis. Because of the manner in which the platform is mounted, the subject always faces in the same direction despite the rotational movement of the platform on which he is lying. Because the orientation of the subject does not change, he is not likely to become nauseated or disoriented. This known machine is provided with an AC generator, which provides a low frequency signal, connected across a pair of electrodes located at opposite ends of the platform. The body located between the electrodes is subjected to a low energy electrical field in addition to a uniformly varying physical force produced by the combined effects of gravity and the rotational movement.
According to the teachings of my U.S. Pat. No. 4,256,095, the electrical field in addition to the rotational motion is required if the subject is to obtain the benefits of a feeling of well being and relaxation. I have now discovered that in fact an electrical field is not required in many cases in order to cause the subject to relax and to relieve stresses. Machines of this type may also enhance learning abilities.
Use of a spinning chair to stimulate the development of learning abilities in learning disabled children has been known for some time. Such chairs have been used by Ohio State University in the United States. The chair is constructed in a manner similar to an ordinary secretarial chair with a supporting base and an upper chair portion adapted to rotate about a vertical axis on the base. The chair is modified so that it has a motor and drive mechanism to rotate the upper portion at a uniform rate. The problem with this type of spinning chair is that treatment can only be given for very short periods of time, generally thirty seconds, before the motion becomes unbearable. Also it can cause nausea and dizziness and is generally unsettling for the patient or subject.